{"id":247113,"date":"2026-04-01T19:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/247113\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T19:07:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:07:28","slug":"what-is-ca-high-speed-rail-railhead-in-central-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/247113\/","title":{"rendered":"What is CA high-speed rail railhead in Central Valley?"},"content":{"rendered":"

State government and transportation leaders spoke this winter about the completion of a California high-speed rail facility next to a state highway in the Central Valley as proof the project is on the cusp of becoming a real, visible system \u2014 at least between the Kern County and Fresno-Madera areas.<\/p>\n

They declared it a turning point for the controversial project that\u2019s yet to produce actual train tracks in the 17 years since California voters first approved it.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom called<\/a> it the arrival of \u201cthe phase everybody\u2019s been waiting for.\u201d California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri described it as something that was no longer a concept or a plan, but something that \u201cis physically here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what exactly will the Southern Railhead Facility \u2014 a 150-acre yard nestled between agricultural fields and Highway 43 about halfway between the Kern County cities of Shafter and Wasco \u2014 do for the project?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first of several railhead facilities the rail authority will build as it lays tracks across the state. But this one will be the base for the project\u2019s first track work \u2014 which the rail authority has committed to beginning some time this year. The railhead\u2019s massive size and location will allow it to receive, store and send out materials as the track work advances northward along the initial 119-mile stretch being built.<\/p>\n

The rail authority broke ground on the facility<\/a> in January 2025 and Choudri said it was finished in October, meaning its construction lasted less than one year. But its completion came more than a decade after high-speed rail construction first began in the Central Valley. Construction alone in the Central Valley, which is being performed in three \u201cpackages\u201d covering work between Madera and Kern counties, is today hovering around $9 billion after more than 1,600 change orders have upped the price in the area.<\/p>\n

The project has grown controversial since California voters in 2008 approved $9.95 billion in bonds<\/a> for a train that would connect the state\u2019s major metro areas at a total cost of about $45 billion. Today, after years of delays and cost increases, the rail authority is required to focus on first completing a 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield route, which the agency is hoping to finish by 2032 at an estimated cost of $34.76 billion.<\/p>\n

Choudri is asking state legislators to pass a slew of laws to help quicken the pace of construction, reduce the risk of cost increases and move the project toward Los Angeles and the Bay Area. That includes removing the $500 million spending cap<\/a> on work outside the Central Valley, which he says could impede a partnership he\u2019s trying to land with private investors who will likely want to help build routes toward the state\u2019s major metro areas.<\/p>\n

But the rail authority has told The Bee multiple times this year it is still committed to finishing the Merced-to-Bakersfield route.<\/p>\n

\"An An aerial view of the California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s Southern Railhead Facility. CA HSRA Why is high-speed rail\u2019s \u2018giant staging yard\u2019 important?<\/p>\n

The rail authority calls<\/a> the railhead facility a \u201cgiant staging yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis railhead is important for us to … start laying tracks from here all the way into Merced and then all the way into Bakersfield,\u201d Choudri said in February at the facility.<\/p>\n

It has six freight lines inside it, as well as 10 miles of temporary storage tracks built in partnership with the BNSF Railway. The 150-acre yard also has a maintenance yard, a control office and warehouse space for the storage of materials needed for the rail system: crushed rock known as ballast, overhead poles for the system\u2019s electric power supply, concrete ties that the trains travel over and more.<\/p>\n

The site connects to the national freight train network, allowing it to receive materials that originate in other states, the rail authority says<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The rail authority started officially requesting bids last year from suppliers for $507.1 million worth of materials that will be used to lay tracks on the first 119 miles of the Central Valley segment. In recent months the agency started proposing awards<\/a> to suppliers of overhead poles, rail and concrete ties, and also put out a request for bids on a $3.5 billion track and systems construction contract<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to a report released last month<\/a>, that construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year.<\/p>\n

By mid-2027, there will be \u201chundreds of people working\u201d at the railhead sending out materials for track construction to the north.<\/p>\n

In a video recently posted<\/a> to the rail authority\u2019s YouTube channel, Choudri said the agency plans to build another facility of this kind as work approaches the Fresno area.<\/p>\n

\"An An aerial view of the California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s Southern Railhead Facility. CA HSRA
\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Erik Galicia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea\u2019s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert. Erik\u2019s work is supported through the California Local News Fellowship program.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State government and transportation leaders spoke this winter about the completion of a California high-speed rail facility next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[52317,110399,112,114,113,735,78939,110400],"class_list":{"0":"post-247113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-california-high-speed-rail","9":"tag-central-valley-railhead","10":"tag-fresno","11":"tag-fresno-headlines","12":"tag-fresno-news","13":"tag-kern-county","14":"tag-southern-railhead-facility","15":"tag-track-laying-logistics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}